Moses Recounts the LORD's Promise to Israel at Horeb

11 These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah over against Suph, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2 It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea. 3 It happened in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel, according to all that Yahweh had given him in commandment to them; 4 after he had struck Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth, at Edrei. 5 Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying, 6 “Yahweh our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying, You have lived long enough in this mountain: 7 turn, and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites, and to all the places near there, in the Arabah, in the hill country, and in the lowland, and in the South, and by the seashore, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their seed after them.”

The Appointment of Judges

9 I spoke to you at that time, saying, “I am not able to bear you myself alone: 10 Yahweh your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are this day as the stars of the sky for multitude. 11 Yahweh, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are, and bless you, as he has promised you! 12 How can I myself alone bear your encumbrance, and your burden, and your strife? 13 Take wise men of understanding and well known according to your tribes, and I will make them heads over you.” 14 You answered me, and said, “The thing which you have spoken is good for us to do.” 15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, and captains of fifties, and captains of tens, and officers, according to your tribes. 16 I commanded your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the foreigner who is living with him. 17 You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike; you shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s: and the cause that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it. 18 I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do.

The Spies Sent Out at Kadesh-barnea

19 We traveled from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw, by the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as Yahweh our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh Barnea. 20 I said to you, “You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which Yahweh our God gives to us. 21 Behold, Yahweh your God has set the land before you: go up, take possession, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you; don’t be afraid, neither be dismayed.” 22 You came near to me everyone of you, and said, “Let us send men before us, that they may search the land for us, and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up, and the cities to which we shall come.” 23 The thing pleased me well; and I took twelve men of you, one man for every tribe: 24 and they turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the valley of Eshcol, and spied it out. 25 They took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down to us, and brought us word again, and said, “It is a good land which Yahweh our God gives to us.” 26 Yet you wouldn’t go up, but rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh your God: 27 and you murmured in your tents, and said, “Because Yahweh hated us, he has brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. 28 Where are we going up? our brothers have made our heart to melt, saying, ‘The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to the sky; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.’” 29 Then I said to you, “Don’t dread, neither be afraid of them. 30 Yahweh your God who goes before you, he will fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness, where you have seen how that Yahweh your God bore you, as a man does bear his son, in all the way that you went, until you came to this place.” 32 Yet in this thing you didn’t believe Yahweh your God, 33 who went before you in the way, to seek you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to show you by what way you should go, and in the cloud by day.

God's Punishment on Israel

34 Yahweh heard the voice of your words, and was angry, and swore, saying, 35 “Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see the good land, which I swore to give to your fathers, 36 save Caleb the son of Jephunneh: he shall see it; and to him will I give the land that he has trodden on, and to his children, because he has wholly followed Yahweh.” 37 Also Yahweh was angry with me for your sakes, saying, “You also shall not go in there: 38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there: encourage you him; for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. 39 Moreover your little ones, whom you said should be a prey, and your children, who this day have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there, and to them will I give it, and they shall possess it. 40 But as for you, turn, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea [1].”

The Defeat of Israel at Hormah

41 Then you answered and said to me, “We have sinned against Yahweh, we will go up and fight, according to all that Yahweh our God commanded us.” You girded on every man his weapons of war, and were forward to go up into the hill country. 42 Yahweh said to me, “Tell them, ‘Don’t go up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest you be struck before your enemies.’” 43 So I spoke to you, and you didn’t listen; but you rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh, and were presumptuous, and went up into the hill country. 44 The Amorites, who lived in that hill country, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, even to Hormah. 45 You returned and wept before Yahweh; but Yahweh didn’t listen to your voice, nor gave ear to you. 46 So you abode in Kadesh many days, according to the days that you abode there.

The Years in the Wilderness

21 Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea [2], as Yahweh spoke to me; and we encircled Mount Seir many days. 2 Yahweh spoke to me, saying, 3 “You have encircled this mountain long enough. Turn northward. 4 Command the people, saying, ‘You are to pass through the border of your brothers the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir; and they will be afraid of you: take good heed to yourselves therefore; 5 don’t contend with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on; because I have given Mount Seir to Esau for a possession. 6 You shall purchase food of them for money, that you may eat; and you shall also buy water of them for money, that you may drink.’” 7 For Yahweh your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand; he has known your walking through this great wilderness: these forty years Yahweh your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.

8 So we passed by from our brothers the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir, from the way of the Arabah from Elath and from Ezion Geber. We turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab. 9 Yahweh said to me, “Don’t bother Moab, neither contend with them in battle; for I will not give you of his land for a possession; because I have given Ar to the children of Lot for a possession.” 10 (The Emim lived therein before, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim: 11 these also are accounted Rephaim, as the Anakim; but the Moabites call them Emim. 12 The Horites also lived in Seir before, but the children of Esau succeeded them; and they destroyed them from before them, and lived in their place; as Israel did to the land of his possession, which Yahweh gave to them.) 13 “Now rise up, and cross over the brook Zered.” We went over the brook Zered. 14 The days in which we came from Kadesh Barnea, until we were come over the brook Zered, were thirty-eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were consumed from the midst of the camp, as Yahweh swore to them. 15 Moreover the hand of Yahweh was against them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp, until they were consumed. 16 So it happened, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people, 17 that Yahweh spoke to me, saying, 18 “You are this day to pass over Ar, the border of Moab: 19 and when you come near over against the children of Ammon, don’t bother them, nor contend with them; for I will not give you of the land of the children of Ammon for a possession; because I have given it to the children of Lot for a possession.” 20 (That also is accounted a land of Rephaim: Rephaim lived therein before; but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim, 21 a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim; but Yahweh destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and lived in their place; 22 as he did for the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before them; and they succeeded them, and lived in their place even to this day: 23 and the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, who came forth out of Caphtor, destroyed them, and lived in their place.)

24 “Rise up, take your journey, and pass over the valley of the Arnon: behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land; begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle. 25 This day will I begin to put the dread of you and the fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole sky, who shall hear the report of you, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of you.”

Israel Conquers Sihon

26 I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying, 27 “Let me pass through your land: I will go along by the highway, I will turn neither to the right hand nor to the left. 28 You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink: only let me pass through on my feet, 29 as the children of Esau who dwell in Seir, and the Moabites who dwell in Ar, did to me; until I shall pass over the Jordan into the land which Yahweh our God gives us.” 30 But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him; for Yahweh your God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into your hand, as at this day. 31 Yahweh said to me, “Behold, I have begun to deliver up Sihon and his land before you: begin to possess, that you may inherit his land.” 32 Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Jahaz. 33 Yahweh our God delivered him up before us; and we struck him, and his sons, and all his people. 34 We took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed every inhabited city, with the women and the little ones; we left none remaining: 35 only the livestock we took for a prey to ourselves, with the spoil of the cities which we had taken. 36 From Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and from the city that is in the valley, even to Gilead, there was not a city too high for us; Yahweh our God delivered up all before us: 37 only to the land of the children of Ammon you didn’t come near; all the side of the river Jabbok, and the cities of the hill country, and wherever Yahweh our God forbade us.

Israel Conquers Og of Bashan

31 Then we turned, and went up the way to Bashan: and Og the king of Bashan came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Edrei. 2 Yahweh said to me, “Don’t fear him; for I have delivered him, and all his people, and his land, into your hand; and you shall do to him as you did to Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived at Heshbon.” 3 So Yahweh our God delivered into our hand Og also, the king of Bashan, and all his people: and we struck him until none was left to him remaining. 4 We took all his cities at that time; there was not a city which we didn’t take from them; sixty cities, all the region of Argob, the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 5 All these were cities fortified with high walls, gates, and bars; besides the unwalled towns a great many. 6 We utterly destroyed them, as we did to Sihon king of Heshbon, utterly destroying every inhabited city, with the women and the little ones. 7 But all the livestock, and the spoil of the cities, we took for a prey to ourselves. 8 We took the land at that time out of the hand of the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan, from the valley of the Arnon to Mount Hermon; 9 (which Hermon the Sidonians call Sirion, and the Amorites call it Senir;) 10 all the cities of the plain, and all Gilead, and all Bashan, to Salecah and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan. 11 (For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of the Rephaim; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; isn’t it in Rabbah of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was its length, and four cubits its breadth, after the cubit of a man.)

Reuben, Gad, and Half of Manasseh Settle East of the Jordan

12 This land we took in possession at that time: from Aroer, which is by the valley of the Arnon, and half the hill country of Gilead, and its cities, gave I to the Reubenites and to the Gadites: 13 and the rest of Gilead, and all Bashan, the kingdom of Og, gave I to the half-tribe of Manasseh; all the region of Argob, even all Bashan. (The same is called the land of Rephaim. 14 Jair the son of Manasseh took all the region of Argob, to the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called them, even Bashan, after his own name, Havvoth Jair, to this day.) 15 I gave Gilead to Machir. 16 To the Reubenites and to the Gadites I gave from Gilead even to the valley of the Arnon, the middle of the valley, and the border of it, even to the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon; 17 the Arabah also, and the Jordan and the border of it, from Chinnereth even to the sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, under the slopes of Pisgah eastward. 18 I commanded you at that time, saying, “Yahweh your God has given you this land to possess it: you shall pass over armed before your brothers the children of Israel, all the men of valor. 19 But your wives, and your little ones, and your livestock, (I know that you have much livestock), shall abide in your cities which I have given you, 20 until Yahweh gives rest to your brothers, as to you, and they also possess the land which Yahweh your God gives them beyond the Jordan: then you shall return every man to his possession, which I have given you.”

21 I commanded Joshua at that time, saying, “Your eyes have seen all that Yahweh your God has done to these two kings: so shall Yahweh do to all the kingdoms where you go over. 22 You shall not fear them; for Yahweh your God, he it is who fights for you.”

Moses Not Permitted to Enter Canaan

23 I begged Yahweh at that time, saying, 24 “Lord Yahweh, you have begun to show your servant your greatness, and your strong hand: for what god is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to your works, and according to your mighty acts? 25 Please let me go over and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon.” 26 But Yahweh was angry with me for your sakes, and didn’t listen to me; and Yahweh said to me, “Let it suffice you; speak no more to me of this matter. 27 Go up to the top of Pisgah, and lift up your eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and see with your eyes: for you shall not go over this Jordan. 28 But commission Joshua, and encourage him, and strengthen him; for he shall go over before this people, and he shall cause them to inherit the land which you shall see.” 29 So we abode in the valley over against Beth Peor.

Jesus Foretells His Death a Third Time

32 They were on the way, going up to Jerusalem; and Jesus was going in front of them, and they were amazed; and those who followed were afraid. He again took the twelve, and began to tell them the things that were going to happen to him. 33 “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes. They will condemn him to death, and will deliver him to the Gentiles. 34 They will mock him, spit on him, scourge him, and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”

The Request of James and John

35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came near to him, saying, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we will ask.” 36 He said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37 They said to him, “Grant to us that we may sit, one at your right hand, and one at your left hand, in your glory.” 38 But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” 39 They said to him, “We are able.”

Jesus said to them, “You shall indeed drink the cup that I drink, and you shall be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with; 40 but to sit at my right hand and at my left hand is not mine to give, but for whom it has been prepared.” 41 When the ten heard it, they began to be indignant towards James and John. 42 Jesus summoned them, and said to them, “You know that they who are recognized as rulers over the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. 43 But it shall not be so among you, but whoever wants to become great among you shall be your servant. 44 Whoever of you wants to become first among you, shall be bondservant of all. 45 For the Son of Man also came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Blind Bartimeus Receives Sight

46 They came to Jericho. As he went out from Jericho, with his disciples and a great multitude, the son of Timaeus, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the road. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out, and say, “Jesus, you son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Many rebuked him, that he should be quiet, but he cried out much more, “You son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 Jesus stood still, and said, “Call him.”

They called the blind man, saying to him, “Cheer up! Get up. He is calling you!” 50 He, casting away his cloak, sprang up, and came to Jesus. 51 Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”

The blind man said to him, “Rabboni, [3] that I may see again.” 52 Jesus said to him, “Go your way. Your faith has made you well.” Immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Mark 10:32-52

Commentary on Mark 10:32-45

(Read Mark 10:32-45)

Christ's going on with his undertaking for the salvation of mankind, was, is, and will be, the wonder of all his disciples. Worldly honour is a glittering thing, with which the eyes of Christ's own disciples have many times been dazzled. Our care must be, that we may have wisdom and grace to know how to suffer with him; and we may trust him to provide what the degrees of our glory shall be. Christ shows them that dominion was generally abused in the world. If Jesus would gratify all our desires, it would soon appear that we desire fame or authority, and are unwilling to taste of his cup, or to have his baptism; and should often be ruined by having our prayers answered. But he loves us, and will only give his people what is good for them.

Commentary on Mark 10:46-52

(Read Mark 10:46-52)

Bartimeus had heard of Jesus and his miracles, and learning that he was passing by, hoped to recover his eyesight. In coming to Christ for help and healing, we should look to him as the promised Messiah. The gracious calls Christ gives us to come to him, encourage our hope, that if we come to him we shall have what we come for. Those who would come to Jesus, must cast away the garment of their own sufficiency, must free themselves from every weight, and the sin that, like long garments, most easily besets them, Hebrews 12:1. He begged that his eyes might be opened. It is very desirable to be able to earn our bread; and where God has given men limbs and senses, it is a shame, by foolishness and slothfulness, to make themselves, in effect, blind and lame. His eyes were opened. Thy faith has made thee whole: faith in Christ as the Son of David, and in his pity and power; not thy repeated words, but thy faith; Christ setting thy faith to work. Let sinners be exhorted to imitate blind Bartimeus. Where the gospel is preached, or the written words of truth circulated, Jesus is passing by, and this is the opportunity. It is not enough to come to Christ for spiritual healing, but, when we are healed, we must continue to follow him; that we may honour him, and receive instruction from him. Those who have spiritual eyesight, see that beauty in Christ which will draw them to run after him.